The Blog

Behind every great salad, there’s an even better dressing. Don’t get me wrong – the actual salad is hugely important too, providing the nutrients and sustaining goodness to give you that ‘I just had an excellent salad’ feeling. The dressing in this case however, is the star. The thread that ties the ingredients together, highlighting their deliciousness even further. Also, the nutritional benefits in this golden, layered liquid are another feather in it’s cap.

A combination of some gorgeous olive oil and silky ghee give the dressing an almost caramel flavour. The olive oil lends us the benefit of its omega 3 essential fatty acids, whilst the ghee (clarified butter) adds some lovely fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D and E, along with vitamin K2 which helps our bodies absorb the calcium from the greens. I could say a lot more about ghee, but that is a whole other post 🙂 The apple cider vinegar primes the digestive secretions, getting them ready to go to work on breaking down the food you’re about to give them, and the sea salt brings everything together.

This recipe will make around 1/2 cup, so you should have some leftover to keep in a jar in the fridge – just bring it back to room temperature before using again. Also, the beauty of this salad is that you can sub in other things that you have on hand – swap out the beetroot for a different roast veggie, or the lentils for chickpeas, or the sprouts for your favourite leafy green.

A quick post for you today, just in case you’re in need of some inspiration for pancake day tomorrow. These are my latest favourite pancakes that have been on high rotation here, so I thought I would share in the hopes that you love them too!

I’ve used some gluten free teff flour in the recipe to mix things up a little, which is similar to spelt in that is rich in iron, calcium, magnesium, protein and fibre. If you need the recipe to be gluten free, you could try substituting your favourite GF flour mix for the spelt. Alternatively, if you can’t find teff flour, feel free to use all spelt.

These babies also have an extra dose of fibre with the addition of banana, and also if you choose to use the chia seeds. They don’t have much fat in the actual batter, so choose your favourite to cook them in – I like butter, ghee or coconut oil. They are great for breaky, in lunch boxes, as a snack or after dinner with toppings only limited by your imagination. I love them straight out of the pan with nut butter and yoghurt, or berries and nuts. I hope you love them too!

I’ve been following Mimi Thorisson’s gorgeous blog ‘Manger’ for a long time now. It is complete indulgence. Have a peek if you don’t believe me, and you will be whisked away to romantic French country deliciousness, in every sense of the word. I was lucky enough to attend one of Mimi’s cooking workshops earlier in the year, and came away with much more than some fresh skills. Dotted throughout the weekend were little reminders of living life more slowly, and celebrating the connection with food and seasons. I’ve listed some of my favourites below.

Make the little things beautiful.

Whether it’s some herbs and a swirl on top of the gazpacho, setting the table with ‘the good’ tableware, or putting cut flowers anywhere and everywhere, it brings a little ceremony and specialness to even the most average of Tuesday afternoons.

Celebrate the beauty of your produce.

One of the first things I noticed at Mimi’s incredible home was the way she had all the produce out on display. When I talked to her about it, she said that she just loves looking at it. It is such a simple thing, but a beautiful way to constantly connect yourself with your food and season.

Instead of keeping all your fruit and veggies in the fridge, keep some out on the dining table, in the kitchen or in other areas of your home in bowls or in lovely bundles. It looks gorgeous, and each time you walk past you might even imagine something you’ll make with them.

Sure, you can’t do it with everything, but there’s plenty of fresh produce that fares beautifully out of the fridge in a ventilated area and out of direct sunlight. Avocados, cucumber, tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum (peppers), pumpkins, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, bananas, citrus, mangoes, …

Well, they say that time flies when you’re having fun, so I must have been having a lot of fun lately! Actually, that’s true. Since I posted last I’ve been doing lots of writing, cooking, taken on some more lecturing, am deeper into my Masters, turned 40 (!!), and we also took a beautiful holiday which I will post about soon as the cooking workshop I did was incredible. I hope you have had a wonderful few months too. Today I have this delicious, festive looking recipe to share with you, that is both fancy looking and simple to make – my favourite. But I wanted to share something else first.

This month, being October, I am participating in the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation’s initiative ‘Frocktober’ to help raise awareness and funds for research into an early detection test for ovarian cancer. Did you know that one woman in Australia dies from ovarian cancer every 10 hours? Part of the reason for this is that it is usually quite advanced by the time it is diagnosed.

In the early stages, symptoms can be vague, nonspecific, or completely absent. Symptoms of ovarian cancer can include unexplained bloating, digestive discomfort and gas pains, changes to bowel habits, backache, difficulty eating or feeling full easily, urinary symptoms, abnormal vaginal bleeding and unintended weight loss.
Aside from having the opportunity to rock out a frock every day, I am supporting #frocktober2017 to help raise awareness and funds for much needed research into early detection. At present there is no early detection test, which is contributing to the high mortality rate of the disease. I would love it if you could help spread the word by visiting and sharing my page from the link below with your friends and family, and of course you …